MOBILE, Alabama -- Standing just a block away from the site of a recent downtown shooting, and flanked by his police chief, Mobile Mayor Sam Jones on Wednesday announced a battery of initiatives that he said will help address the city’s crime problems.

Jones’ proposals would:

Create a citywide curfew for teens.

Add sagging pants to the city’s definition of public indecency.

Beef up the city’s scrap metal ordinances to make it harder for thieves to sell stolen copper and other metal.

With more than a dozen officers, officers in training and horse-mounted units setting the scene, Jones’ news conference appeared a show of force. A recent spate of shootings and other high-profile crimes downtown have riled business owners and residents alike.

A young man was shot in the back Sunday after a confrontation in the center of the entertainment district, according to police reports. Earlier this month, a bullet grazed the face of another man after a brawl. Two women were kidnapped and raped after a June concert.

Jones wants parents to be "accountable"

Jones’ proposed curfew ordinance, which has been in the works for months and the subject of much discussion in recent City Council meetings, would make it illegal for anybody under the age of 18 to be in a public place after 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, midnight Friday and Saturday.

The same prohibition would generally apply from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays when public school is in session.

The ordinance defines a public place as any location “to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access,” including shops.

The law would also make the owners of clubs and other businesses criminally liable if they allow minors to remain in their establishments during curfew hours.

Parents who allow their children to violate the rule would also be subject to penalties of $100 for the first offense and up to $500 for the second offense.

Minors who violate the law can be taken to a “Curfew Center” to await their parents, but detention is capped to a maximum of three hours. The ordinance does not specify where the center is or who would supervise it.

Convicted minors would face a fine of $100, as well as any additional punishments deemed appropriate by a juvenile court judge.

“We aren’t looking for officers to pick up a lot of kids,” Jones said. “We want to help parents to be more accountable to our children.”

The ordinance includes a dozen exemptions and possible defenses against prosecution.

A previous ordinance, on the books since 2002 but not enforced, applied only to the downtown entertainment district.

Scrap dealers and pants saggers also targeted

When Jones announced a ban on sagging britches, the crowd of business owners and downtown passersby who had gathered to listen to the news conference burst into a round of applause.

Under the proposed amendment to the city’s public indecency ordinance, wearing pants or skirts more than 4 inches below the crest of the hipbone so as to expose skin or underwear would be illegal. Violators, though not subject to arrest, would have to pay a fine of $50 for the first offense and $200 for the second.

Jones said his third proposal was crafted with input from the city’s police department. Copper thieves cause thousands of dollars in damage to property as they tear copper wire and piping from homes and businesses to sell as scrap.

The new rule would ban cash payments for scrap, forcing buyers to pay by check or bank draft mailed to the seller.

Implementation of Jones’ proposed changes are likely weeks away, as each requires City Council approval.

The council will probably take up the proposals in a meeting of its Public Safety Committee before putting them to a vote.

In the meantime, said Chief of Police Micheal T. Williams, the department plans to saturate downtown with officers on foot, horseback and using Segway, an electronic, personal-transportation device.

Williams said that, during some of the recent incidents, not all of the department’s downtown surveillance cameras were working properly. The cameras are under warranty, he said, so each time one breaks, it has to be sent in to the company to be fixed.

Williams acknowledged that some “hot spots” were not under video surveillance. Until the department can get cameras installed, he said, they will be patrolled by an officer.

Twenty-three of 25 cameras are functioning, he said.

“We want people to come downtown, to have a good time, visit the clubs and patronize the establishments,” Williams said in an impassioned speech. Those who come downtown to “pillage and rape” will not be tolerated, he said.

The city has scheduled two community meetings to discuss the proposals. The first will be at 6:30 p.m. July 26 at Government Plaza, the second at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 2 at the Mobile Regional Senior Community Center.